This invention relates, in general, to an optical interconnect structure, and more particularly, to an optical waveguide which is also capable of conducting an electrical signal.
The speed at which data can be transferred from chip to chip, from board to chip, from board to board, and even from computer to computer can be limited by the speed of electron movement or transfer. One solution to this speed limitation is to convert the electronic transfer process to a photonic transfer process. Light emitting devices such as, for example, vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) can convert electrical signals to optical signals.
Light transmitting structures such as optical fibers are used to transmit or conduct the optical signal from one location to another. However, precise alignment is required for coupling the light transmitting structures to the light emitting devices. Moreover, electrical contacts carrying the original electrical signal must also be precisely aligned to the light emitting devices. Consequently, two different alignment procedures, which are difficult and expensive, must be successfully completed prior to obtaining a functional electro-optical system.
Accordingly, a need exists for an optical waveguide which is both manufacturable and inexpensive and which can also be used as an electrical interconnect structure to facilitate alignment to a light emitting device.